


Clinging to Reality

by baconandeggsy



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fix-It, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, Idiots in Love, It 2 spoilers, M/M, kinda changed up some of the og dialogue from the movie but like in a good way, richie and eddie are happily married and own two dogs and no one can convince me otherwise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-03
Updated: 2019-10-03
Packaged: 2020-11-22 11:48:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20873720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/baconandeggsy/pseuds/baconandeggsy
Summary: Richie can't seem to forget what he saw in the deadlights.





	Clinging to Reality

Richie stares up at Eddie in shock, his mind still not fully comprehending his situation. “Hey! Richie! Listen!! I think I got him, man! I did! I think I killed him for re-,” Eddie’s smile quickly vanishes off of his face as one of Pennywise’s talons stabs him through the chest, blood splattering onto Richie’s face and neck. Richie’s expression quickly morphs into one of fear and despair at the sight.

_Oh god. This can’t be happening right now. Oh god. Please. Not Eddie. Please._

He manages to breathe out a weak, “Eddie..”, the shock coursing through his veins keeping him rooted to the ground. Eddie stares down at the talon sticking out of his chest, his eyes full of terror and pain as blood starts spilling out of his mouth,“Richie…” He looks back at the man below him, “Richie..” Before Richie can move, Pennywise yanks Eddie’s body into the air before throwing him down to the ground, discarding him as if he were a ragdoll, dislodging the talon from Eddie’s abdomen in the process. Screams of horror from the rest of the group echo through the cavern as Richie runs to Eddie’s side, yanking his jacket off and pressing it to the gaping wound in his abdomen, silently begging for Eddie to be okay.

Eddie coughs, scarlet dripping down his chin as his eyes scan over Richie’s face, “Richie…” Richie’s eyes dart to his face as he keeps pressing the jacket onto the wound, desperately trying to stop the bleeding, “Eddie..” Eddie smiles up at him weakly, “Richie I need to tell you something. I-” He glances over Richie’s shoulder and sees the rest of the group, biting back the words he wanted to say, “I fucked your mom.” Richie lets out a sobbed laugh before they take him into one of the small tunnels, forming a plan and moving through the tunnels to get behind Pennywise and try to force him to shrink. 

Richie gently places him down against a wall and presses against the wound again, the rest of the group trying to make a break for the crack they used to get into the cavern. Eddie puts his hands over Richie’s hand, gripping onto him as if he was a life preserver. Richie glances at the group when he hears them start to shout at Pennywise before looking down at Eddie, “I swear to god, I’m not gonna let you die on me Eds.” Eddie grins at him, “I know,” he glances at the group, “you should go help them.” Richie starts to protest and Eddie weakly cuts him off, “They can’t do this without you, Trashmouth.” 

“Eddie, I-”

_I love you._

“I know. Now go kill that fuckin’ clown. I’m not going anywhere.”

_I love you too, idiot._

The group eventually defeats Pennywise and Richie quickly rushes back to Eddie’s side as the cave starts falling apart, “Eddie! Eddie we killed him! We really killed him this time!! Eddie??” He gently shakes him, “Eddie, please.. Eddie, wake up!” The rest of the group starts pulling Richie away by his shoulders, “He’s gone Richie, we need to go NOW.” Richie tries to shake their hands off of him, “No. No, we can still help him! We can still save him, please!” They start dragging Richie out of the cave as he sobs and screams for Eddie, begging for them to let him go save him. As soon as they run out the front door and onto the lawn of The House, it collapses.

Richie startles awake from his nightmare, sitting up with his cheeks damp with tears. He vaguely registers the feeling of the bed shifting as someone next to him sits up, gentle hands running up and down his arms and a familiar voice saying his name. He recognizes the voice almost immediately and lets out a sob, “Eddie-” Eddie’s arms wrap around him, rubbing up and down his back, “Hey hey, it’s okay. I’m here Richie. I’m here.” Richie holds onto the back of Eddie’s shirt with a vice-like grip, shaking as sobs roll through him. “Y-you were dead. I couldn’t- I didn’t-” 

Eddie pulls him closer, Richie hiding his face in Eddie’s neck as Eddie gently whispers loving reassurance into his hair. Eddie reaches out with one of his hands to flip on the bedside lamp behind Richie, cupping Richie’s face in his hands and pulling him back to check over him, his heart breaking as he sees how utterly broken Richie looks. Richie leans into his touch as Eddie uses his thumbs to wipe some of the tears off of his cheeks, still shuddering slightly. “Hey. Richie, look at me.” Richie looks up at him, a weak sob escaping his lips. “See? I’m okay. I’m here.” One of Richie’s hands moves to gently smooth over Eddie’s abdomen, dropping his head back down to rest on his shoulder with a shaky sigh of relief once he’s only met with the feeling of Eddie’s smooth, unscathed stomach. Eddie moves one of his hands up to run through the back of Richie’s hair, a few minutes passing as Richie’s sobs slowly reduce to weak sniffles. 

“You know what I saw in the deadlights, Eds?” Richie’s voice catches Eddie’s attention and he moves back slightly so he can look at Richie, his hands moving to run over Richie’s arms as he shakes his head. “You never told me, and I’m not pushing.” Richie swallows a lump in his throat, looking down and picking at the blanket covering his lap. A moment of silence passes before Richie clears his throat slightly, “I- uh. In the deadlights. I saw you die- How you would’ve died if I hadn’t pulled you down to the ground.” Eddie stiffens at this slightly, his eyes drifting down to his and Richie’s hands for a moment, “Really?”

Richie nods, looking up at Eddie’s face, “And I can’t get it out of my head. I can’t stop seeing it.. I couldn’t let you die Eddie…” Richie runs his thumbs over the back of Eddie’s hands, “In what I saw- What almost happened.. I couldn’t save you. And I don't think I would have been able to live with myself if that actually happened.” Eddie squeezes Richie’s hands before letting them go and gently cupping his face in his hands, Richie leaning into his touch and letting his own hands come to a rest at Eddie’s sides. “I’m here Richie. And I’m not leaving anytime soon, okay?” Richie smiles softly, turning his face to press a kiss to the palm of one of Eddie’s hands. “I love you, Eds.” Eddie beams at him, leaning in and gently kissing him, pulling away a few seconds later and saying, “I love you too, Richie.” 

Eddie pulls Richie to lay back down and pulls him to his chest, tucking an arm under his head and wrapping his other arm around Richie’s waist before pressing a kiss to Richie’s head, “Get some sleep. I’ll be here.” Richie tucks his head under Eddie’s chin, resting his hands on his chest and hitching one of his legs over Eddie’s legs, letting himself feel safe and loved for the first time in years.

“Goodnight Eds.”

“Goodnight love.”

A beat.

“Stop moving around Eddie.”

“You’re just so skinny, it’s like cuddling a skeleton.”

“Shut up, you love me AND my sharp bones.”

Eddie lets out an exasperated sigh.

“Unfortunately, yeah.”


End file.
